Will substantive issues affecting Canadians be addressed again in this painfully long election campaign?
I am a voter and I am tired of promises for specific groups of people, even my people.
I am a Caucasian, middle-class parent in my mid-thirties and the politicians are currently courting my vote.
Sure, a longer parental leave would be nice.
Thanks.
I wouldn't mind a national day care program too.
Sounds good.
May we also please have someone in power care about the missing or murdered aboriginal women across the nation?
Or what about child poverty?
Or what about the chronic underfunding of schools across the nation?
Or what about the prohibitively expensive (and constantly rising) cost of post-secondary?
Over the last few weeks, I have been in a state of absolute fury about how spin doctors and the political nitwits have been manipulating the campaign into a fearful and racist campaign of ignorance.
With no women front-runners in the three top political parties, we are talking about women's clothes.
In a nation that was once renowned for its tolerance and inclusion of all cultures, the debate about the niqab makes us all look like ignorant, xenophobic racists.
It is not Stephen Harper's place to be legislating a non-issue for the entire country.
The fact that this is an election issue infuriates me.During the course of my day job, I have had the fortune to meet a number of women who wear a hijab, which is another Arabic word for the niqab or burqa.
The first time I met a woman with a hijab that covered her entire face, I needed to take her photo for her student ID card.
We needed a photo of her face uncovered for legal reasons and I asked her how we could make that happen.She told me that according to her faith, men that she wasn't related to or married to weren't allowed to look at her. I asked if unveiling in front of women was okay and she told me it was.Thirty seconds later, we erected a quick barrier and had her photo taken without men present.
Done.
To me, this cultural practice of veiling your face is incomprehensible.I don't understand it and I don't agree with it.
However, I don't have to wear it and it isn't really about me.It's about her.She was uncomfortable unveiling her face with men present.
So we accommodated it and it wasn't a big deal.
It allowed us to have a conversation about why she wore the hijab and what it represented to her. I learned a little about her culture and she learned a little about mine.
That is how mutual respect and understanding take place.We make these accommodations about other issues all of the time.
Do I want to have my lady parts examined by a male doctor?Not particularly, so whenever possible, I request a female doctor or nurse. Men request male doctors for manly issues as well.
Do I like the hijab?
Not in the slightest.
Do I get to make a judgment call on the hijab?
Nope.
I am allowed not to like the hijab (or what I feel like it represents).
I am not allowed to belittle those who do wear the hijab because, quite frankly, I have better manners than that and I understand that not all things in life are black and white.
We used to be known as a country that accepts people of all nations and cultures to become part of a greater nation of diversity and tolerance.
Where did that go?
I want it back and I am going to vote accordingly.
